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June 15, 2011

G67: Red Sox 3, Rays 0

Beckett (9-1-0-0-6, 97) pitched the first one-hitter of his career, his first shutout since July 12, 2009, and the Red Sox's first complete game of 2011. It was also Beckett's ninth career complete game of nine innings (six in the regular season and three in the playoffs).

With two outs in the third, Reid Brignac hit a medium-speed grounder down the third base line. Kevin Youkilis came in and gloved it, but his throw was on one hop to Adrian Gonzalez and, most likely, not in time. AG couldn't scoop the throw and Brignac was safe. That was Beckett's only baserunner, as he retired the next 19 batters. (Beckett threw more than five pitches to only two of his 28 batters.)

Hellickson (7-4-3-2-2, 94) matched Beckett pitch-by-pitch for six innings. He allowed only two baserunners -- Dustin Pedroia's first-inning single and Jacoby Ellsbury's walk in the fourth -- and both of them were immediately erased on double plays.

With one out in the seventh, Pedroia tripled off the wall in right-center. Matt Joyce drifted back and leapt at (or maybe crashed into) the wall, but could not catch the ball. The Rays intentionally walked Gonzalez and pitched to Youkilis, who had a miserable game last night and was 0-2 so far against Hellickson, including an ugly three-pitch strikeout his last time up. Youkilis took a strike, then drilled a fastball about four rows deep in left field for his 10th dong of the season.

At 2:20, it was the Red Sox's quickest game of the season. The second-quickest game (2:24) was played last night.

In his last start, Hellickson allowed five earned runs and seven hits to Baltimore in 5.2 innings. Since May 1, Beckett has made eight starts with a 1.65 ERA. Beckett also has had six no-decisions in his last 10 starts.

Jacoby Ellsbury has hit safely in 17 of his last 18 games (.397/.455/.603/1.057). During his current 11-game hitting streak, he's batting .423. From June 7-12, Ellsbury had six straight multiple-hit games.

Adrian Gonzalez has hits in 20 of his last 23 games, with a .406 average. Over the last month or so (May 8, 33 games), he's hitting .388. Gonzalez has a hit or a walk in 58 of his 66 games.

Marco Scutaro is hitting .432 in his last 10 games (which includes four games before his DL stint). ... Since getting the good news on his shoulder, Dustin Pedroia is hitting .412/.524/.706/1.230.

The Class AAA starter had the option of declaring free agency today if the Red Sox did not promote him to the majors. But as the Globe reported last night, a compromise was reached that will culminate with Miller joining the rotation next week. He is expected to pitch against the San Diego Padres on Monday. ...

Hi, everyone. Long time, no see, but I decided I needed some JOS spirit tonight.

Question: Andrew Miller's deal---how long do the Sox have to keep him in the majors under the contract in order to avoid free agency? Is one game sufficient? I don't usually care too much about these things, but this intrigued me.

The Swisher/Papelbon shaver commercial looks like a frat-guy's Youtube "vlog." But hey, I can understand that a little Mom & Pop company like Norelco couldn't afford to shoot with film, so I give it a free pass.

And perhaps someone could create a tutorial for using B-Ref. I just really find it confusing. But then I have never spend much time trying to figure it out. I can find simple things, like a player's overall record, but no clue how you find things like a player's record against a particular pitcher.

Yes, it seems that if they send Miller back down, he would have to clear waivers first, but there is a clause in his contract where the Sox gave him a $3 million option for 2012 if he is claimed on waivers by another team.

Not that I really have a clue what that means... Some day I will have to learn more about how these contracts work.

I assume, however, that it means they can send him back down to AAA without triggering the free agency clause.

I don't understand the waiver thing either, but the impression I got was that once they decided to bring him up, keeping him with the Sox (because there was a clause in the minor league contract that let him walk if they didn't) they want to keep him up to keep him off waivers.

i did not look at the yearly stats but one year had a 1.xx ERA, right? i'm sure there was a good stretch in there where he was on. i also remember him throwing a ton of pitches, of being up to 100 by the 5th.

Aw, laura, that's insulting to a native son! Dja know there's a humongous stuffed cod hanging in the chamber of the Mass. house of representatives--either a reminder of our Bay heritage or a former legislator who forgot to go home....

"Connecticut was designated the “Constitution State” by the General Assembly in 1959. As early as the 19th Century, John Fiske, a popular historian from Connecticut, made the claim that the Fundamental Orders of 1638/39 were the first written constitution in history."